Preparation for lunar new year There are only 2 more days till lunar new year, or Tet in Vietnamese. My family is getting busy with preparing for this significant festival. We cleaned, tidied up the house spick and span, decorated it with flowers, lanterns, vietnamese calligraphy hanging on the wall, next to some antique vessels with original pattern. I like the way my mom decorated our house with many kinds of flower: colorful dahlia, charming lily, exquisite rose which are put nicely in the vase making the house look so bright and lively. But Tet won't be Tet if there isn't cherry blossom. We bought a branch of cherry blossom in a flower market two days ago. Now it is in the living room, many little pink buds are waiting to bloom. On Tet, there are various delicious food such as xôi gấc (sticky rice), canh măng (bamboo soup), giò, candied fruits and seeds, nem (spring rolls) and so on. But there is one indispensable dish that every families have on this day is bánh chưng (chung cake) or bánh tét (tet cake). Chung cake is served in northern part of Vietnam while tet cake is in southern part. My family had prepared every elements to make chung cake. My dad can make it beautifully and perfectly in shape. I tried to learn from him but I think it's a bit off from being square as it's supposed to be. Well, still have to learn more. After wrapping, we put the cakes into a pot filled with water to boil. It took hours so we called our neighbors to come by. We had grilled squid and dried beef with beer while watching ober the pot and talking about family, work and life. It brought me the image of life in the past, when every families make chung cake themselves, children play around the yard, adults have tea and talk while watching over the boiling pot. But it isn't like that nowadays, people tends to buy this traditional food available at stores for the convenience...The nice smell from the toasted sweet potatoes and corns, the warmth from the burning flame, the small talk for hours with the kind neighbors bind together harmoniously, make the night go by strangely comfortable. One another year is about to come, hope this will be a year full of luck, wealth, health and success for me, my family, everyone and especially the person who is reading this notebook from the beginning to the end.